Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1887-04-16
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SCIENTISTS state that water once con
tamlnated with sewage never becomes
purified by natural means.
TIE eyes Of poisonous snakes have
been found by DE-. Benjamin Sharp to
have elliptical pupils while 10 the
harmless species they are erculaE.
PROP. ORDWAY recommends that wa
ter pipes exposed to freezing be coy
cred with glazed cotton batting. It is
easily applied, and should be pnt on to
the thickness Of one TO three inches,
according to exposure, being wound
around loosely with tWine.
PROF. BAIRD says that as q fish has
no maturity, there IS nothing to prevent
It from living indefinitely and growing
continually. He cites IN proof a pike
living IN Russia whose age dated back
TO the fifteenth century. I the royal
aquarium at St Petersburg, there are
hsh that have been there 40 years.
TIE tensile strength Of ice is given by
Frehllng, of Konigsberg, as between
~ and 233 pounds per square inch, ct
70 degrees +. Its compressive strength.
found by cubes Of over two inches at
the same temperature, is ascertained 90
vary between sixty-one and 2O5 pounds.
a mean being 148 pound per square
inch.
RECENT observations are said to indi-
cate the existence Of a submarine vol
eanle crater between the Canary
Islands and the coast of Portugal.
from cable-laYing steamer IN latitude
81 deg. % min. north, longitude deg.
d min. west, the water was found to
measure 1900 fathoms under the bow,
and oOO fathOms under the stern, show
ing the ship to be over the edge Of q
deep depression in the ocean bottom.
IL Is well known that great inequalities
are found IN the bed of the sea of Lis
bon, and these are thought to be due to
a submarine chain of mountains
A MEMBER of the Royal Society of
Tasmania finds that, as compared with
Mars, Jupiter's surface brightness is
twenty-five times as great as It ought to
be II ali It's light Is reflected sunshine;
and as compared with the moon about
thirteen times. That the brilliancy was
remarkable has long since been known,
and the theory of this observer. that
the giant planet Of cur system has not
yet so cooled as to cease to be seIf-lu-
minus, is by no means new. A more
generally accepted explanation, how
ever, is that Jupiter is covered with a
highly reflective material, which alb
serbs much less solar light than Mars
and the moon.
OVER 100 stars are known to vary in
brightness, a very few strikingly, in
periods ranging from a few hours to
several centuries. In one class the
changes seem to follow a regular law,
and in another they are irregular and
spasmOdic. To the latter class prOba-
bly, belong the so-called new" stars
from time to time recorded, which, in
stead of being new creations, are doubt
less faint stars suddenly flashing into
prominence. A most remarkable new
star was seen in 1872, by Tycho Brahe,
who reported that it became suddenly
so brilliant as to be seen at noon, then
gradually faded away and became lost
to view IN about sixteen months after it
was first observed.
TIE system Of communication by sun
flashes from mirrors has been lately
used with marked success by Lieut.. A.
M. Fuller, the United States signal Of
hcer on special service in Arizona. Sig
nails were flashed by mirrors for dis
tances ranging from five to forty miles.
A trial message Of twenty-five words
was sent over a line 200 miles In length,
and an answer Of the same length re
ceived at the starting point In twenty
minutes. Another test which resulted
very satisfactorily, was signalling 800
words twenty-five miles IN a short
space Of time. A message Of twenty-five
words was recently signalIed from Gen.
Miles, at Tubac, A. T., to Lake Valley,
400 miles distant, and an answer of
twenty-seven words returned in four
hours and ten minutes.